Diff'rent Strokes is an American sitcom television series that aired on NBC from November 3, 1978 to May 4, 1985 and on ABC from September 27, 1985 to March 7, 1986. The series stars Gary Coleman and Todd Bridges as Arnold and Willis Jackson, respectively, two African-American boys from Harlem taken in by a rich white Park Avenue.
Chainey Umphrey on Mister Rogers' NeighborhoodEpisode 1566Albert Chainey Umphrey (born August 2, 1970) is a retired American gymnast. He competed in the 1996 Summer Olympics, helping the U.S. team to a 5th-place finish in the team all-around. Umphrey was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico on August 2, 1970, and took up gymnastics at age 7. He attended Albuquerque Academy and graduated in 1988. While in Albuquerque, he trained at Gold Cup Gymnastics along with future Olympians Lance Ringnald and Trent Dimas.Umphrey competed in college gymnastics at UCLA, where he was an All-American and two-time team captain. He was a member of the U.S. national team from 1989 to 1997, competing at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in 1991, 1994, and 1996. His best result was a 4th-place finish on the horizontal bar in 1994. He also won a gold medal for the team all-around at the 1995 Pan American Games.Away from competition, Umphrey also worked to promote the sport of gymnastics and appeared at clinics around the United States. He was a guest on the children's program Mister Rogers' Neighborhood in 1986 and again in 1995, demonstrating gymnastics skills and training methods.
I had a late start in gymnastics. 16 yrs old. Somehow ended up a walk-on at UCLA (took a yr off after I graduated high school).
One of the driving inspirations for me was Kurt Thomas. He had me living and breathing gymnastics. Back then, there was no YouTube videos. No instagram. No internet. The only way I could see good gymnastics was when one of the 3 networks on television would televise a competition, with the color-commentators dramatizing what you were watching and providing backstory for the athletes.
When I was 16, I lived in Austin, Texas. One of the books I checked out from my high school library was "Kurt Thomas on Gymnastics". I ate it up, page after page. From beginning to end It wasn't dry reading but colorful. And after every 2 weeks, I'd check the book out again. (I wonder if anyone else ever got to read it?).
I spent my last 2 years of high school in California (military brat). Instead of attending my high school graduation, I went to International Gymnastics Camp in Pennsylvania. There, from the cantine store, I found the book, "Kurt Thomas on Gymnastics", which I think may have been out of print (I certainly couldn't find it in any bookstore; and there were no online Barnes and Noble, Borders, or Amazon to check and order from). I bought 2 copies.
And I still have them.
Kurt Thomas made it cool to be a male gymnast back when most other boys were doing traditional American sports.
